Ford focuses on toughness rather than fuel economy with F-150 ads

The second largest US automaker, Ford Motor, is ready to unleash an ad blitz for its new F-150 pickup truck during tomorrow’s college football bowl games.

But, even as much of the media hype surrounding the aluminum-bodied new generation of the full-size truck has been about the benefits of the new architecture on weight loss and subsequent mileage figures, Ford has chosen to direct its attention to the model’s haul and tow capabilities. Although it’s still a key attribute for the new generation, there will be no mention of the fuel economy gains. Ford called in a statement that tomorrow debuts the “most comprehensive F-150 marketing campaign ever,” but the fuel economy gains will be put on hold for now. According to Chantel Lenard, Ford’s director of US marketing that’s because the television commercial that showcases the truck’s 5 to 29% fuel economy gains is still in the works and won’t be ready for tomorrow’s debut.

The touted fuel economy gains mostly stem from the fact that Ford has opted to revolutionize the body of the model (and manufacturing process as well), using in large quantities aluminum instead of steel – making the 2015 F-150 as much as 700 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, mostly built using steel.